Woman, 3-year-old girl thrown from SUV in I-65 crash in NW Indiana

SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE - A woman and a 3-year-old girl who were ejected from an SUV were among seven people injured in a single-vehicle rollover crash Sunday afternoon on I-65 in northwest Indiana.

The group was in a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer traveling south about 12:50 p.m. on I-65 two miles north of the Rensselaer exit, when the back tire of the SUV blew out, according to Indiana State Police.

The driver, a 31-year-old man, lost control of the Trailblazer, and it went off the road to the left, police said. The SUV went through the median and hit the guard rail that separates north and south traffic, then went airborne and rolled.

Two back seat passengers, a 37-year-old woman and 3-year-old girl — who was sitting on the woman’s lap — were ejected out a passenger side window, police said. Neither was wearing a seat belt.

The woman landed about 10 feet north of the SUV, and the child landed about 30 feet away, police said. Both were taken to Franciscan Health Lafayette East, where the woman was treated for serious injuries. The child was later airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital with serious-to-critical injuries.

The driver, a 31-year-old woman in the front passenger seat, and three more children in the back seat, ages 2, 3 and 4, were also taken to Lafayette East with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening, police said. Everyone in the SUV was from Kokomo, Indiana.

None of the children were in child restraint seats, and two were sharing a single seat belt, according to police.

Police did not immediately provide information on citations or charges in connection with the crash.